The present invention relates to a new and improved construction of a toothbrush.
Generally speaking, the toothbrush of the present development is of the type containing a bristle support or carrier in which there are retained the bristles of the toothbrush. There also is provided a date-indicating arrangement possessing first indicia or markings representative of a number of mutually different, especially equal length time intervals.
It is well known that it is recommendable to replace a toothbrush, for hygienic reasons, after it has been in use a certain amount of time, preferably after three months following the initial use thereof. Very few users are capable of recalling the exact date that they started using their toothbrush, and most users do not keep any record of this event. Thus, as a general rule, the user of the toothbrush is incapable of reconstructing the duration of use of his or her toothbrush. Therefore, in most instances the toothbrush is used for too long a period of time.
In German Patent Publication No. 2,405,403 there is disclosed to the art a toothbrush containing a date-indicating arrangement which allows fixing the exact date of purchase of the toothbrush or the date that it is first placed into use. For this purpose there are provided at the handle of the toothbrush twelve point-like perforatable marking locations arranged along a straight line. By means of a pin it is possible to punch-out the corresponding marking location representative of the month of purchase of the toothbrush or when it was first placed into use, as the case may be, so that the toothbrush user can determine at any point in time the age of his or her toothbrush.
This state-of-the-art solution is afflicted with the drawback that for punching-out the markings or marking locations there must be available a suitable instrument. If there is incorporated into the purchased package containing the toothbrush, for instance, a pin member for punching-out the relevant month's date, then the package for receiving this pin member must be appropriately designed. Moreover, during the course of the packaging operation there is required an additional step for the insertion of the pin member or the like into the package containing the toothbrush. But also applying the date is relatively tedious and cumbersome, particularly since the punching-through of the correct place at the twelve point-like marking locations requires a certain amount of dexterity. If inadvertently the wrong location is perforated then it is not readily possible to correct the false date indication which has been punched-out.